Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

I was wrong about that. And in two weeks Trump would come down the golden escalator with his Build the Wall campaign. 

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• We had an arrest in the Lake Grapevine case after the alleged driver of the jet ski was quickly identified. I'm surprised it took even that long with the clear picture we had of her. Plus, video emerged showing that the cops even had the license plate number of the car she drove away in. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Ken Paxton was very excited to learn both of the arrestees were "illegal aliens" that he could barely contain himself.  (The theme of Ann Coulter's book, above, is still playing well to the crowds.) He also tried to personally take credit for the arrest in a press release.  
  
  
   
• And Gov. Abbott then took to social media to render a verdict of the "death penalty" even though nothing about this incident makes it a capital crime. (I can't tell you how weird it is for a governor to weigh in at all in a criminal case.)
  
  
  
• We had another SpaceX failure by Elon yesterday evening -- or as he calls it, "a rapid unscheduled disassembly."
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Trump threatened Russia yesterday, and then the official Russian state media account openly mocked him in response. 
  
  
  
• More pardons by Mr. Law and Order.
• Mom pays $1 million to have her son freed. 
  
  
  
• Convicted of a $36 million fraud:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Everyone in the Trump Administration acts like the Secretary of State except the Secretary of State (Marco Rubio.)
  
  
  
  
• He's not well.
  
  
  
• Say what?
  
  
  
• Wild: A guy who was featured 10 years ago for his participation in a veteran's court in San Francisco almost killed a woman last week during a burglary of a billionaire's home. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We haven't heard much of an update on the Roy Cooper case (if there is a case), but hundreds turned out, including George Strait, for a memorial service for him at the Fort Worth Stockyards on Memorial Day. The Star-Telegram has a big spread on it.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

The statewide flooding that I mentioned yesterday (and which has its own Wikipedia entry), certainly included the metroplex.  Above, Loop 12 and its service road were shut down for over six hours leaving cars with no where to go. They eventually  brought in a crane to remove the center barriers so those cars could do a U-turn.

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• Texas Parks and Wildlife officials investing the death of girl kayaking on Grapevine Lake, caused by being hit by a jet ski, have released the photo below of the person they said, unequivocally*, was operating that jet ski and then fled.  How has she not been identified? (*They better be right.)
  
  
  
• Dateline Liverpool. After seeing the videos, it is stunning that no one was killed. Two of the more graphic videos are here and here.  Here is video of what seems to have started it all. 

• The headline below is from 2023. I think that the murder trial of one of the defendants begins today in Wise County.
  
  
  
• Apparently we can't keep convicted law enforcement heads in prison:
• An escape:
  

  

  
  
• A pardon:
  
  
  
• If you haven't seen the video of the French president being shoved in the face by his wife -- and especially his reaction to it, here it is.
  
  
  
• Sheesh. Only the most important cases matter.
  
  
  
• Cosplay Kristi Noem is at it again.
  
  
  
• The escaped inmates from the New Orleans jail are being caught left and right. With three being captured yesterday, we are now down to two who are still on the run.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas legislature updates:
• A great war going on in the Texas House is how much veteran lawmaker Jeff Leach hates representative Brian Harrison (an Andy Hopper type who cares more about culture wars then getting things done) and vice-versa. Last night, Leach presented, and had passed, an omnibus new courts bill that suddenly deleted the creation of a new district court in Ellis County -- Harrison's county.  Leach said he deleted the court because Harrison didn't get him requested information about the need for the court before an April deadline. Harrison says that's a lie. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• A big tort reform bill, Senate Bill 30, passed the House last night, but it was gutted along the way. 
• The House approved the possession of sawed off shotguns last night.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Ten years ago, there was crazy flooding all over the state which gave rise to some crazy images. This one, of I-45 in Houston, was taken by former Wise County resident Cody Duty who worked for the the Houston Chronicle at the time. The paper used it on its front page, but for some reason cropped out the skyscrapers in the background which really gave it its punch. 

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• One more flashback: The flooding referenced above included the middle-of-the-night flood along the Blanco River in Wimberly, Texas which killed 12 people who were all in one home. The river suddenly went from 5' to 41'. The story was the feature of a great Texas Monthly article.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• He or she hit a kayaker.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This story made a lot of headlines over the weekend, but it almost seems that every one of them has a slightly different fact pattern. Story.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Texas House, by a vote of 82-46, gave their final approval to the silly Ten Commandments bill -- on a Sunday.
  
  
  
• Trump gave the commencement address at West Point in a MAGA hat, talked crazy, and then left without shaking the graduates hands like every other recent president has done.  Video
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The New York Times needs to stop sane-washing him. 
  
  
  
• Trump's former (and very bad) personal lawyer, and now the acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, Alina Habba, showed up for some reason. 
  
  
  
  
• It is barely is blip on the radar when Trump does a flip flop on tariffs. He had one last night after a single phone call. The 50% threat last a two whole days. 
  
  
• The final approval by the legislature to the complete THC/Hemp ban passed last night. Now the only thing to stop it is a governor's veto. I doubt that will happen. But, the again, even Fox News doesn't like the ban:
  
  
  
• This guy has been on the lam for three full weeks now. 
  
  
  
• Tim O'Hare, the Tarrant County judge, is trying to gerrymander the four district commissioners court with new boundary lines for one purpose: Limit the minorities on the court to one commissioner.  The Texas GOP weighed in over the weekend calling the redistricting necessary to "safeguard our values" which is code for "Make our commissioners court as white as possible. "
  
  
  
• I never really follow the Van Cliburn competition in Fort Worth, but one of the final 18 contestants sat down on stage to compete on Saturday, stared at his hands, and then walked off. 
  
  
  
• Russia continued to bomb Ukraine over the weekend hitting 30 cities and villages.  It was just four weeks ago that Trump tweeted, "Vladimir, STOP!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Trump responsed on the tarmac late yesterday.  Maybe he'll write Putin a strongly worded letter. 
  
  
  
• Oh, he got worse last night. 
  
  
  
• Let's check in on Israel who we dare not criticize. 
  
  
  
  
• Legal nerdy stuff. There's a condescending end to this opinion. 
  
  
  
• More legal nerdy stuff: Gov. Abbott has already vetoed a bill that would make it a crime to be on public property within 250 feet of a school. (Text of version that was sent to Governor. Text of the original bill.)  Here's his explanation as to why he killed it -- as if he needed to explain it.
• Early this morning, Trump posted a "Happy Memorial Day" message which then went into a deranged rant. 
• THWMISB™